Environmental Science Major

Environmental Science Major

IN THIS SECTION

Protect the environment.

Get the skills you need to protect the environment and mitigate the effects of climate change. The environmental science major will give you an understanding of the interactions between humans and the natural world. With its interdisciplinary approach, the program introduces you to fundamental concepts in biology, chemistry, earth science, and physics as you learn scientific techniques and tools for assessing human impacts on the environment. Get your hands dirty and your feet wet as you work at Worcester State’s new research facility at nearby Patch Reservoir, using the program’s canoes and suite of environmental sensors. You will conduct hands-on field and laboratory investigations of environmental systems, and you will participate in independent research with faculty mentors and an internship with an outside agency.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

  • Intern with an environmental agency
  • Apply scientific tools and methodology to gather information and solve problems
  • Conduct both field- and laboratory-based analysis
  • Participate in faculty-led undergraduate research on topics like water pollution, atmospheric carbon sequestration, remote sensing of the environment, drone-based imaging, and more
  • Discover the relevance of environmental science to a wide array of disciplines in the natural and social sciences, including biology, earth science, chemistry, human geography, urban studies, and public policy

Explore sample courses in this program.

EV-120 Integrated Environmental Science for Educators

Introduction to the scientific method. Physical, biological, and earth sciences as applied to problems in environmental science. 3 lecture hours and 2 laboratory hours per week.
4 credits

EV-130 Environmental Problems and Solutions

The course is an introduction to human impacts on the earth and ecosystem processes. The complexity of these issues is examined through a series of case studies examining global, regional, and local issues.
3 credits

EV-150 Environmental Science

Interdisciplinary scientific study of human impacts on natural systems. Introduction to fundamental concepts and tools of environmental impact analysis.
3 credits

EV-199 Special Topics in Environmental Science

Lecture or laboratory course in selected areas of environmental science presented by departmental instructor. Topics are announced in advance.
1 to 6 credits

EV-202 Principles of Ecology

Basic ecological theory relating to organism-environment interactions, population dynamics, and ecosystems. 3 hours of lecture and a 3-hour laboratory per week.
4 credits

EV-210 Chemical Analysis: An Introduction to Modern Methods

Introduction to modern methods of chemical analysis including gravimetry, acid-base and redox titrations, potentiometry, UV-visible and atomic absorption spectrophotometry, and gas and HPLC chromatography. 3 lecture hours and 4 laboratory hours per week.
5 credits

EV-218 Introduction to Remote Sensing

Introduction to the use and analysis of remotely sensed images such as aerial photographs and satellite imagery.
3 credits

EV-225 Oceanography

The principles of physical, chemical, biological, and geological oceanography.
3 credits

EV-230 Biogeography

The distribution patterns of plants and animals, processes affecting this distribution, and how these patterns change in space and time.
3 credits

EV-235 Contemporary Climate Change

The global climate system, factors influencing climate, recent climate change, and the role of human activity.
3 credits

EV-250 Hydrology

Hydrologic processes and their estimation and measurement. Includes precipitation, evaporation, runoff, groundwater, and water resources management.
3 credits

EV-258 Global Environmental Change

An introduction to the science, political economy, and ethics of global environmental change.
3 credits

EV-260 Introduction to Soil Science

The study of the formation, processes, classification, and composition of soils with emphasis on environmental applications, including watershed delineation.
3 credits

EV-301 Topics in Invertebrate Zoology

Considers anatomy, taxonomy (including selected articles of the international code of zoological nomenclature), natural history, and evolutionary relationships of selected invertebrate phyla. 3 hours of lecture and a 3-hour laboratory per week.
4 credits

EV-307 American Public Lands: Environmental Issues

Exploration of the environmental management issues on US public lands such as national parks, national forests, and BLM lands.
3 credits

EV-320 Environmental Chemistry

Chemistry of the atmosphere, soil, and natural water systems, air and water pollution, water treatment, hazardous wastes, and pollution control. Lab techniques including sampling and analysis of environmental media. Lecture 3 hours per week and lab once a week for 3 hours.
4 credits

EV-330 Environmental Toxicology

Topics include the pharmacological and biochemical properties of toxins and the effects of toxins on human health, including assessment of risk(s).
3 credits

EV-331 Marine Biology

Considers the marine environment, its flora and fauna, distribution and production of plankton-nekton-benthos, zoogeography, bioeconomic factors, and potential. 3 lecture hours and a 3-hour laboratory per week.
4 credits

EV-333 Topics in Vertebrate Zoology

Life histories, adaptations, distribution, systematics, and economic importance of selected vertebrate taxa. Each semester focuses on a particular taxon. 3 hours of lecture and a 3-hour laboratory per week.
4 credits

EV-334 Wildlife Biology

Theory and practice of wildlife management. Considers procedures for collection and analysis of field and laboratory data on vertebrate game populations useful to wildlife biologists. 3 hours of lecture and a 3-hour laboratory per week.
4 credits

EV-335 Hydrogeology

Underground water and its movement. Aquifer identification and test; wells, contamination, and remediation, ground water as a geologic agent.
3 credits

EV-340 Plant Sciences

Morphology, anatomy, physiology of flowering plants with studies on life cycles, ecological relationships, biochemical processes, and evolution of plant diversity. 3 lecture hours and 3 laboratory hours per week.
4 credits

EV-344 Soil Biology

Includes study of nutrient cycling; relations between plants, animals, and microbes; ecology of polluted soils; and soil biotechnology. 3 lecture hours and 3 laboratory hours per week.
4 credits

EV-345 Green Chemistry

This course provides an understanding of the fundamentals of green chemical design that either eliminates or reduces the use of generation of hazardous substances. 3 hours of lecture/lab per week.
3 credits

EV-348 Fundamentals of Earth Data Analytics

The theory and practice of data analytics using remote sensing and in-situ earth observations and communicating the science.
4 credits

EV-360 Animal Behavior

Survey of ethology and behavioral ecology from an historical and evolutionary perspective. Laboratory involves observation, recording, and analysis of animal behavior. 3 lecture hours and 3 laboratory hours per week.
4 credits

EV-370 Lakes and Environmental Change

Modern physical, biogeochemical, and sedimentary processes in lakes. Lake sediments as archives of past climate and environmental change. Includes fieldwork.
4 credits

EV-380 Biodiversity and Conservation Biology

A theoretical and quantitative approach to species, genetic, ecosystem, and community diversity in the context of modern conservation biology principles. 3 lecture hours and 3 laboratory hours per week.
4 credits

EV-400 Environmental Science Seminar

Capstone course for environmental science majors. Creation and presentation of a review or research paper and career preparation.
3 credits

EV-408 Directed Study: Environmental Science

Directed study offers students who, because of unusual circumstances, may be unable to register for a course when offered the opportunity to complete an existing course with an established syllabus under the direction and with agreement from a faculty member.
3 to 4 credits

EV-410 Independent Study in Environmental Science

Opportunity for advanced students to pursue a topic of special interest involving extensive reading, experimentation, and research.
1 to 6 credits

EV-412 Special Topics in Environmental Science

Intended for the undergraduate who wishes to undertake study of selected topics in environmental science of mutual interest to student and faculty.
1 to 6 credits

EV-420 Advanced Geoscience Research and Fieldwork

Lab and or field-based research on a specific geoscience topic under supervision of a faculty member.
1 to 6 credits

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